Springfield Regional Arts Council

"Murals, sculptures abound in city"

Thursday, October 19, 2006

By Sony Hocklander
News-Leader

This mural on Campbell, just north of Park Central West, depicts the Har-Bell Athletic Goods building area. It was painted by David Guinn.
Photo by: STEVE J.P. LIANG / NEWS-LEADER.
Do you know where the Springfield Art Museum is?

Take National Avenue to Brookside Drive and turn west at the yellow french fries.

That's right — the abstract yellow sculpture east of the museum.

Nicknamed by many a Springfieldian, the striking linear public art piece by John Henry is a longtime Springfield landmark. By the way, it's actually titled "Sun Target."

Good to know, don't you think?
"Sun Target" outside the Springfield Art Museum is known to Springfieldians as yellow French fries.
Photo by: STEVE J.P. LIANG / NEWS-LEADER.

Which is one reason the Springfield Regional Arts Council — urged by teachers, downtown business folks and the Convention and Visitors Bureau — is working on a new brochure titled "Public Art of Springfield, Missouri." Funded by several grants, the brochure for visitors and residents should be ready for fall distribution.

"Our first priority is to identify where public art is," says Kay Logsdon, SRAC executive director. "And we wanted to create a fun piece."
"Journey of the Imagination," by Gary Price, can be found at the Library Station.
Photo by: STEVE J.P. LIANG / NEWS-LEADER.

Two summer interns have worked on the brochure. Josh "Gunner" Larson, an Evangel University student, did most of the research and photography. Vanessa Keitel, who attends Southwest Missouri State University, is helping design the piece that will feature more than three dozen murals and sculptures.

Most — but not all — are located outside. Many are found in the downtown area. Others are on Commercial Street, in parks, at public buildings and on university campuses.

Don't want to wait for the list?

Start your own personal art tour with options the arts council and News-Leader tracked down.

MURALS

Downtown is a mural-rich area. Some are external eye-catchers for downtown businesses. Many recent pieces were grant-funded and commissioned through the Springfield Program for Public Art — a program currently on "sabbatical" according to director Ellen Baird.

Spotlighting public art is a good thing for Springfield, she says.

Russ RuBert's "Venus" can be found outside his studio. RuBert also created "Kinetic Man."
Photo by: STEVE J.P. LIANG / NEWS-LEADER.
"Public art is art that is community-minded," says Baird who painted "Friday Morning, 10 a.m.," one of the downtown murals. "We should care about it because public art provides community-building opportunities."

Baird's mural is a colorful street scene on Jefferson Avenue between Park Central East and McDaniel Street.

"There are characters in the mural that are specific Springfield people, some people that walked down the street every day while I was painting it," she says.

Another mural she initiated is on a wall at Market Avenue and College Street. Dave Loewenstein led students from Bailey Alternative High School in creating the mural that depicts their lives and emotions. Unfortunately, parts were later cut out when windows were installed for loft apartments.

"It was not ideal," notes Baird. "But we certainly didn't want to lose the mural altogether. It was a great project."

Facing that mural is another on Campbell just north of Park Central West. The soft pastel depicting the Har-Bell Athletic Goods building area is by national artist David Guinn.

And at Campbell Avenue and Walnut Street, nationally known local artist Robert E. Smith painted a mural recounting his memory of Springfield circa 1975.

Not too far from downtown is the funky College Street Mosaic Wall (between New and Fort avenues), a mural created by Christine Schilling assisted by many groups of Springfield kids. Themed Route 66, it illustrates Springfield history.

PARKS AND MORE

A mural in Founders Park has a similar historical purpose. Depicting 10 decades in Springfield, it was designed by Earnest V. Ward and completed by Rod Roberson and students from Springfield area high schools.

Among other items at Founders are a timeline written by Kelly Knauer, a map created by Bear Dance Studio and two statues by Dana and Mark Lamair. One features an older man (representing Springfield's past) and the other a young girl (Springfield's future).

You can find a caped boy flying on a paper airplane inside the Library Station on the north side of town. The sculpture, "Journey of the Imagination," is by Gary Price. The abstract "Infinitude," by Larry Young, is outside the Library Center on the south side of town.

Several art pieces can be found on campuses. "Abstract Variation," by Ernest Trova, sits in front of the Pool Art Center at Drury University. For the Southwest Missouri State University campus, Jim Hill created the well-known "Citizen-Scholar" and "Bronze Bear."
This sculpture at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is a memorial to golfer Payne Stewart.
Photo by: STEVE J.P. LIANG / NEWS-LEADER.

Several spots feature memorial sculptures. James Hall created the homage to civic leader Anne Case Drummond in Close Memorial Park, and to Stephen Good, Drury's dean of students until 2004 when he died of cancer. It sits in front of Olin Library at Drury.

Harry Weber sculpted the likeness of golfer Payne Stewart, found at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Also at the Hall of Fame are tributes to baseball icon Stan Musial and former SMS Lady Bear Jackie Stiles. A tribute to John Q. Hammons stands at the corner of John Q. Hammons Parkway across from Hammons Tower.

Commercial Street has a cluster of sculptures near the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge. They include the subtle "Snake Dance," by Mark La Mair, and "Toot Toot Much Fun," a playful metal train by Schilling, Terry Taylor and Bill Harmon near the curb.

Community projects include "Rail Connection," a Frisco-related montage in metal by Hillcrest High School art students, and "Lighting the Way," a metal silhouette cutout of a man holding a lantern, by Reed Middle School students.

Tucked in the northeast corner of the red-brick square is a broader community project that's not quite complete, according to Schilling. In 2001, visiting artists Elizabeth Kronfield and Matthew Wicker helped children and adults create sand-cast iron tiles. About 200 were made — with less than half attached by John Merrell to metal pillars, now in the square.
"Snake Dance," by Mark La Mair, is located near the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge.
Photo by: STEVE J.P. LIANG / NEWS-LEADER.

"We didn't use them all," says Schilling. "We saved them to use in our streetscape. Our plan is this is part of our look."

You can't miss part of Jordan Valley Park's new look: Sculptor Russ RuBert's 24-foot "Kinetic Man" is fast becoming a new landmark. The robot-like creation that moves with the turn of a crank is the latest of many local installations by the artist.

"We're pretty proud of K-Man," says Logsdon of the sculpture that made the brochure's cover. "He's a pretty visual thing."

RUSS RUBERT

A prolific national metal sculptor, RuBert seems to be a category all his own. Among his seven pieces in Springfield are "EchoSphere" at Southwest Missouri State University; "The Mercy Cross" at St. John's medical campus; "Eternal Flame" at St. John's Cancer Center; and "Venus," a playful piece that looks like alien plant life, in front of his own studio.

While installing K-Man, the artist received a heart-warming compliment when a boy on a skateboard stopped.

"Oh man. RuBert dude. You're that guy that does those sculptures," the artist recalls the boy saying when he saw RuBert's name.

"Wow," the artist says today. "This skateboard kid who couldn't have been more than 12 knew my work. And he was obviously really excited about it. It was kind of neat."

RuBert would like to see more public art in Springfield. He may even start his own sculpture garden on a greenspace he owns near his studio.

"There's always room for more," says RuBert. "I think a lot of places need sculpture."